as in island
a ring-shaped land mass surrounded by water and made of coral
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Recent Examples of atoll
Known as the Xisha Islands in China and Hoang Sa Islands in Vietnam, the chain of reefs and atolls lies about 300 nautical miles south of the Chinese mainland and has long been a regional flashpoint.
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Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 31 Aug. 2025
The reef, a narrow, 18-mile-long atoll in the southern Spratlys, is one of several outposts Vietnam has expanded in recent years as part of its current island-building round, which began in 2021.
—Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Aug. 2025
Some Pacific atolls sit just 1 to 2 meters above sea level and are slowly disappearing as waters rise.
—Lauren Gifford, Space.com, 25 Aug. 2025
Much of the waste was dumped on the atoll of Enewetak in an unlined crater covered with a concrete cap, now known as the Runit Dome; the Marshall Islands National Nuclear Commission and the United Nations have raised concerns about its safety.
—Issy Ronald, CNN Money, 24 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for atoll
Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 31 Aug. 2025
The reef, a narrow, 18-mile-long atoll in the southern Spratlys, is one of several outposts Vietnam has expanded in recent years as part of its current island-building round, which began in 2021.
—Micah McCartney, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Aug. 2025
Some Pacific atolls sit just 1 to 2 meters above sea level and are slowly disappearing as waters rise.
—Lauren Gifford, Space.com, 25 Aug. 2025
Much of the waste was dumped on the atoll of Enewetak in an unlined crater covered with a concrete cap, now known as the Runit Dome; the Marshall Islands National Nuclear Commission and the United Nations have raised concerns about its safety.
—Issy Ronald, CNN Money, 24 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for atoll
Recent Examples of Synonyms for atoll
Noun
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The Caribbean island with a population of less than three million has become a sprinting powerhouse.—
Liam Tharme,
New York Times,
8 Sep. 2025
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This sequel to 2019's Knives Out follows detective Benoit Blanc, played by Daniel Craig, who works to solve a murder after a group of frenemies meet on a private Greek island.—
Emy LaCroix,
PEOPLE,
8 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Long Bay Beach, Providenciales, Turks & Caicos No, the island of Provo—the traveler’s gateway to Turks and Caicos’s 40-odd islands and cays—isn’t undiscovered by any stretch of the imagination.—
Kristin Braswell,
AFAR Media,
14 Aug. 2025
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Offshore, cays drift in dreamy isolation—their edges kissed by foamy surf and dotted with nesting Brown Pelicans.—
Lewis Nunn,
Forbes.com,
8 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The uninhabited islet group in the East China Sea, the Senkaku Islands, is administered by Japan but claimed by China as part of its territory, which is known as the Diaoyu Islands.—
Ryan Chan,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 Aug. 2025
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The channel forked into a series of smaller canals, each branching farther or looping around islets or petering out into dead ends.—
Nathaniel Rich,
Harpers Magazine,
20 Aug. 2025
Noun
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But these habitats aren’t just for looking—guests have the opportunity to engage in several hands-on encounters ranging from feeding reef fish to playing with stingrays to diving directly into tanks stocked full of coral reef species.—
Tara Massouleh McCay,
Southern Living,
27 Aug. 2025
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Already, the change has started eating away at the oceans’ physical infrastructure– from shellfish aggregations and coral reefs to the seafloor.—
Lauren Leffer,
Popular Science,
27 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Atoll.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/atoll. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.
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